The Magna Carta Returns to the National Archives

Allen Weinstein

One of the most important documents in history—Magna Carta Libertatum, or Great Charter of Freedoms—has been returned to the National Archives. The new owner, David Rubenstein, cofounder of the private equity firm the Carlyle Group, purchased this copy of the Magna Carta at auction for $21.3 million, because he believed it to be important for the document to remain in the United States. He has loaned it to the National Archives where the document will remain on permanent display. It is the only known copy of the Magna Carta to be in private hands and only one of four copies of the 1297 version.

It is most appropriate that the only copy of the Magna Carta to be found in the United States is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This Great Charter  of Freedoms has had a profound and lasting influence on the American Charters of Freedom—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—all on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives.

To say the least, the Magna Carta has proven to be ageless. The principles embodied therein have endured through the centuries since King John agreed to them in the year 1215. Now, nearly eight hundred years later, those principles are still foremost in the struggle for, and the spread of, democratic government around the world.

The Magna Carta has been with Americans since the beginning. In Revolutionary America, the Founding Fathers looked to the Magna Carta, and its impact in Great Britain, for the articulation of many of the liberties we enjoy—and take for granted—today. When it came time for the Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain, the delegates found inspiration in the Magna Carta. A few years later, they also found in the Magna Carta the seeds of today’s legal system and representative government and included them in the Constitution. Many of the rights and individual liberties that the English sought from King John and his successors are reflected in the Bill of Rights.

Today, the copy of the Magna Carta in the care of the National Archives is in good condition and is continuously monitored by staff and computer. Its encasement is designed to maintain a constant relative humidity of approximately 54 percent. The gasket sealing on the encasement keeps out almost all oxygen, since oxygen can lead to deterioration. During regular encasement maintenance, the oxygen in the case is displaced with Argon, an inert gas that has no impact on the document. The 15x17 inch document is written on parchment, possibly calf skin, and remains in excellent condition for its age, according to NARA staff conservator Terry Boone.

Eight centuries after its creation, this Great Charter of Freedoms still lives: Its principles endure in our laws today; its spirit runs through our everyday lives; its legacy is intact. Thanks to David Rubenstein, this document—a template for democracies everywhere—will remain in the care and oversight of the National Archives.